112
edits
Changes
→Fundraising in 2007
===2008 Presidential Campaign===
===2008 Presidential Campaign===
==== Fundraising in 2007 ====
==== 2008 Presidential Campaign ====
{{main|John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign}}
{{main|John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign}}
McCain began the race in a strong position, based on his longevity in the Senate and his previous race in 2000. McCain informally announced his candidature for the 2008 Presidential Election on [[The Late Show]] with [[David Letterman]] on February 28, 2007, and officially announced his candidacy in [[Portsmouth]] New Hampshire, two months later. By a few weeks prior to making his announcement on Letterman's show, he was beginning to trail behind former Mayor of [[New York City]] [[Rudy Giuliani]] in the polls. McCain supported the 2007 proposal by President George W. Bush for a "surge", an increase in the number of U.S. troops deployed in the Iraq War. He started a series of campaign events entitled the "No Surrender Tour." His campaign became far more prominent with his wins in the New Hampshire primary and on [[Super Tuesday]], and since [[Mitt Romney]] endorsed him was considered a virtual certainty to win the nomination. He finally reached the 1,191 delegates to win the nomination on the Super Tuesday II contests on March 4th 2008. Current polling shows Senator McCain trailing [[Barack Obama]]. [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html Real Clear Politics]
McCain announced his run for President in the highly volatile 2008 Republican primary early in 2007 at New Hampshire. Throughout the early months, the debates represented a splintered Party among the strong Christian constituency (Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee), anti-immigration activists (Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo), and the blockbuster fundraising by Mitt Romney and Giuliani, who appeared to be media favorites upon entry. Mitt Romney raised $23 million in the first three months of 2007, for instance, three times that of Sen. McCain. In addition, McCain's refusal to sign pacts with important donors and his distaste for political fundraising<ref>Cook, Charles. "The 2008 Presidential Primaries: What in America's Name Is Going On?" The Washington Quarterly Vol. 31 Issue 3 pp. 193-204.</ref>often left him at odds with the other candidates, namely Rudy Giuliani, who amassed over $10 million in March 2007 alone.<ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aZ7SuEo0wuMM&refer=home</ref>
McCain stated at a news conference in Amman, [[Jordan]], "“We continue to be concerned about Iranian taking [[Al Qaeda]] into [[Iran]], training them and sending them back..." <ref>http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/mccain-misspeaks-on-iran-al-qaeda/ McCain Misspeaks on Iran, Al Qaeda</ref> Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate."<ref>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/18/780688.aspx McCain's Sunni/Shiite Faux Pas</ref> McCain made a similar comment during a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt, "As you know, there are al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they’re moving back into Iraq." <ref>http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/transcripts/Transcript.aspx?ContentGuid=ae522a49-6c82-4791-a76e-44ebb718bf32 Hugh Hewitt Transcript </ref> Iran is predominately Shia while Al Qaeda is Sunni.
McCain failed to win strong support because of his maverick image, especially with difficult relationships with key Christian leaders. Social conservatives flocked to Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee with strong disfavor for McCain because of his mixed statements on abortion and religious initiatives. Many evangelicals remained reluctant to support McCain because of longstanding offense he had raised during his 2000 campaign against George W. Bush; news had been raised that many influential Christian organizations would scizm from the GOP if they did not reconcile relationships with the Republican Party nominee. McCain also suffered from his strong support for the Iraq war, which had erupted in sharp violence during early 2007, and was booed off-stage for his position on immigration reform, a hotly-debated issue among conservatives. Taken together, a damaging story by the New York Times claiming McCain had an affair with a lobbyist finally caused an enormous plummet in the polls.
When news had spread that McCain's campaign bankrupted and "imploded" in the summer of 2007, the Republican nomination began a period of quick shifting; other candidates began to soar in the polls, detracting McCain's support. Rudy Giuliani, who collected a strong following based on his leadership as "America's Mayor", began to court evangelical Christians who felt uneasy about McCain, gaining the endorsement of televangelist Pat Robertson. However, as his less-than-flattering personal life and liberal positions on social issues became apparent, he quickly lost momentum to Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee.<ref>Cook, Charles. "The 2008 Presidential Primaries: What in America's Name Is Going On?" The Washington Quarterly Vol. 31 Issue 3 pp. 193-204.</ref> Fred Thompson, who entered late in the race, quickly withdrew because of lackadaisical popularity and poor fundraising efforts. Huckabee remained popular in the Southern United States, but failed to win major contests among independents and Democrat voters.
McCain has stated in the past that he doesn't believe military service is necessarily a qualification for President. In a National Journal interview in 2003, he was asked if “military service inherently makes somebody better equipped to be commander-in-chief.” McCain said, “Absolutely not…I absolutely don’t believe that it’s necessary.”<ref>http://mccainsource.com/mccain_fact_check?id=0017</ref> Also, during an American Legion speech in 1999, he said, "But I’ve never believed that lack of military service disqualifies one from occupying positions of political leadership or as Commander and Chief."<ref>http://www.fas.org/news/usa/1999/09/990907-mccain.htm</ref> In an interview on NPR in May of 2004, McCain noted that “some of our greatest presidents have not [had military experience]. … And all of them turned out to be fine commanders in chief.”
After McCain defeated top contender Mitt Romney by a large margin on Super Tuesday in delegate-rich states like New York, California, and Arizona,<ref>Scott Neuman and Howard Berkes. "Mitt Romney Drops Out of GOP Presidential Race." Feb. 7, 2008. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18772382</ref> Mitt Romney withdrew with some protest, leaving McCain the clear frontwinner. Without Romney's well-financed opposition, McCain easily clinched the necessary delegate lead of 1,191 in March after a spirited yet short-lived fight from Mike Huckabee.<ref>NPR.org. "Election 2008: Huckabee, Romney Stay in Race for GOP Nomination." Feb. 6, 2008. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18739137</ref>
==Political Views==
==Political Views==